Ma Pau poser: How Pro League application led to Police probe in Sport Ministry

The Ma Pau Morvant Sports Club, almost certainly, will not participate in the 2015/16 Pro League competition, after an about-turn by the Ministry of Sport left the organisation without its registration fee.

And it is possible that the Ma Pau outfit, which participated in the Pro League between 2008 and 2011, may not have another shot at entrance in the local top flight until 2018.

Photo: Central FC star Ataulla Guerra (centre) takes the 2014/15 Pro League trophy from Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Central FC star Ataulla Guerra (centre) takes the 2014/15 Pro League trophy from Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)

There is nothing unusual about a local football club attempting and failing to secure admittance into the Pro League. It happens almost every season.

But it is not every year that a Pro League application leads to a passive aggressive media battle between the Sport Minister and a football coach, suggestions of a pliant Permanent Secretary, a police investigation for fraud and a frustrated community.

The most appealing aspect of Ma Pau’s proposed return to the Pro League is a promised TT$8.5 million refurbishment of a sport ground in Morvant, which the club will share with fellow top flight neighbours, Caledonia AIA, and the community.

And outgoing Laventille East/Morvant MP Donna Cox had hoped her last act as the area’s Parliamentary representative would have been to announce the massive infrastructural work on the sporting ground in the humble community.

Cox said that, over the last five years, she had filed questions in Parliament and written the Ministry of Sport, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Planning for help to fix the uneven ground, which is unbearably dusty one minute and flooded the next.

Photo: Outgoing Laventille East/Morvant MP Donna Cox.
Photo: Outgoing Laventille East/Morvant MP Donna Cox.

“It just needed refurbishing and some work done,” Cox told Wired868. “A lot of people use it because they don’t have a proper alternative but there is a lot of flooding and it is uneven and so on…

“We talk about crime but, if we are really serious about crime, this is one of the areas that is at risk. But no work has been done in Laventille East/Morvant by the Ministry of Sport. No netball or basketball court, nothing.

“Malick Senior Comprehensive has to go outside its community to train because there is no proper ground here for them… And I also made a plug for it to be the home ground for Caledonia AIA.”

Cox claimed she got nowhere with her pleas for State resources to fix the community ground.

Last month, former Central FC coach Terry Fenwick approached the MP with a promise to completely renovate the ground and she jumped at the offer. There was one caveat.


Ma Pau wanted the Ministry of Sport to support its bid to return to the Pro League.

Photo: Ex-Central FC coach Terry Fenwick (left) whistles from the bench during his  team's Pro League contest with Point Fortin Civic. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Ex-Central FC coach Terry Fenwick (left) whistles from the bench during his team’s Pro League contest with Point Fortin Civic.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)

“If the Ministry of Sport is not doing what it is supposed to do and a private company wants to come in and assist, then of course I support it,” said Cox. “I feel they should be allowed to get the job done. Why is it being stopped?

“Why didn’t the Ministry decide to partner with them and get it done?”

The catch was that Ma Pau wanted the Ministry of Sport to foot the bill for its Pro League return, which meant a TT$400,000 payment. The Ma Pau application, though, asked the Government for TT$450,000.

But why did Ma Pau, after promising to spend just over TT$3 million on a football ground before the end of year, not simply pay the Pro League’s comparatively paltry registration fee in the first place?

The Pro League gave Ma Pau chairman John Wallis an assurance that, should he choose to return to the competition, he would not have to pay a registration fee for a second time. But Wallis was not aware—or properly advised by his own staff—that this amnesty carried a deadline. And the club missed it two years ago.

Photo: Trinidad and Tobago striker Cornell Glen collects his thoughts after striking the bar against Sweden, during the Germany 2006 World Cup. Glen is a former Ma Pau player. (Courtesy www.bbc.co.uk)
Photo: Trinidad and Tobago striker Cornell Glen collects his thoughts after striking the bar against Sweden, during the Germany 2006 World Cup.
Glen is a former Ma Pau player.
(Courtesy www.bbc.co.uk)

When Wallis and Fenwick sat down in June to discuss Ma Pau’s return to top flight football, there were, according to the coach, two conditions: the club must have a home ground—Wallis was frustrated by Ma Pau being asked to play home games all over the country during his previous Pro League stint—and he would not pay to regain his club’s Pro League status.

From mid-June, Fenwick went into overdrive, as he met and wooed counsellors and regional corporation representatives with Ma Pau’s vision for the Morvant ground.

Inevitably, Fenwick ended up at the Ministry of Sport and in front of his former employer and current Sport Minister, Brent Sancho.

Almost a decade earlier, Fenwick sacked Sancho at San Juan Jabloteh after he grew frustrated with the World Cup 2006 defender’s supposed fondness for night life. But they worked together twice at Central and, earlier this year, the English coach was at the helm when the “Couva Sharks” lifted the Caribbean Club Championship and Digicel Pro League and Pro Bowl titles.

Sancho was already Sport Minister when Fenwick returned to the Sharks and the UNC Senator claimed he had nothing to do with it. But an email between Fenwick, Sancho and his advisor Kevin Harrison suggested otherwise.

Photo: Sport Minister Brent Sancho (centre) pays a visit to Bourg Mulatresse. (Courtesy SPORTT Company)
Photo: Sport Minister Brent Sancho (centre) pays a visit to Bourg Mulatresse.
(Courtesy SPORTT Company)

At 8.30 am on Monday 23 March 2015, Fenwick asked Harrison, via email, to round his salary off at TT$30,000 per month and confirm his bonus for title success with the Sharks. But Sancho was the person who replied.

“We never agreed to rounding off to 30,” stated Sancho, from his Hotmail address. “It’s 28 and 10%. Please (do) not complicate this as time is of the essence.”

On March 24, Central confirmed that Fenwick would replace Serbian Zoran Vranes as head coach. Harrison claimed then that he made the decision and not Sancho.

Although Central won every available title under Fenwick, the relationship between the trio quickly soured.

At 10.52 am on 25 June 2015, Fenwick wrote a 515-word email to Sancho, Harrison and Central director Daren Mohamdally, in which the former England World Cup player ranted at the club’s supposed mismanagement and warned that the Sharks faced a thrashing from MLS club, LA Galaxy, at the CONCACAF Champions League.

Photo: Central FC players (from left) Elton John, Darren Mitchell, Kaydion Gabriel, Uriah Bentick, Jason Marcano, Leston Paul, Ataulla Guerra and Akeem Benjamin celebrate during their penalty shoot out win over Montego Bay United in the 2015 Caribbean Club Championship semifinal. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Central FC players (from left) Elton John, Darren Mitchell, Kaydion Gabriel, Uriah Bentick, Jason Marcano, Leston Paul, Ataulla Guerra and Akeem Benjamin celebrate during their penalty shoot out win over Montego Bay United in the 2015 Caribbean Club Championship semifinal.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)

“Maybe, in my moment of weakness, I expected CFC (Central FC) to recognise the huge opportunity we have been presented to provide T&T football with a much needed ‘positive’ shot in the arm from the visit of LA Galaxy to Trinidad,” stated Fenwick, as he raged about the club’s failure to sort out players’ contracts and pre-season plans. “… It is unethical to have potential employees waiting on Management and the Board to have an epiphany regarding renewal of contracts! Do you have any regard for people’s lives and families noting that they all have responsibilities to their loved ones!

“I find it not only unprofessional but disingenuous to run your club with people/players’ welfare at your disposal and not communicate with them…

“For me and my players, it is demoralising and quite startling how individuals of self proclaimed pillars of society treat with such disregard their own work force.”

Exactly 31 minutes later, Central manager Jamie Along-Charles emailed Fenwick with bad news: “Dear Terry. The Board and Management of Central FC met to discuss your proposed contractual requirement. Unfortunately at this time they will not be able to facilitate your request.

“As such, they wish to sincerely thank you for your services rendered to the club.”

Photo: Central FC coach Terry Fenwick (left) receives a Blue Waters Coach of the Month award from Pro League secretary Julia Baptiste. (Courtesy TT Pro League)
Photo: Central FC coach Terry Fenwick (left) receives a Blue Waters Coach of the Month award from Pro League secretary Julia Baptiste.
(Courtesy TT Pro League)

Regardless, Fenwick took coach Keon Trim along to explain to Sancho and Harrison—in their official capacities at the Ministry of Sport—why the Government should support Ma Pau’s bid to enter the Pro League.

There had been a precedent as, just last year, the Government paid registration fees for Point Fortin Civic. But Sancho, despite his football background, did not support Ma Pau’s bid.

What neither Sancho nor Harrison knew is that Fenwick had already gotten the necessary approval from Ministry of Sport Permanent Secretary Gillian Macintyre, who, as the Ministry’s financial officer, does not need Cabinet or Ministerial oversight within a TT$1 million limit.

“We went to (Sancho) with the complete proposal for Ma Pau and he gave us every possible excuse why he could not do it,” said Fenwick. “I gave them six different ways they could back it because of the level of funding put out by corporate Trinidad.

“Everything they said was a contradiction because we already had an agreement from the PS and we knew that Point Fortin had already received money before us.”

Photo: Point Fortin Civic midfielder Andrei Pacheco (centre) holds off Police FC players Elijah Belgrave (right) and Todd Ryan during a Pro League contest. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Point Fortin Civic midfielder Andrei Pacheco (centre) holds off Police FC players Elijah Belgrave (right) and Todd Ryan during a Pro League contest.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)

The Sport Ministry contacted Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene and advised that it chose to support Ma Pau’s bid and foot its supposed $450,000 registration fee.

There was no consensus as to why the Government wrote a cheque for $450,000 and not $400,000 and, arguably, it showed a flaw in the internal process at the Ministry.

Fenwick and a Sport Minister official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed they were verbally told the fee for entry was $450,000 while the Pro League officials could not remember ever saying so.

Clearly, nobody got anything in writing from the Pro League about its registration fee, yet, despite that fact, a cheque was drawn up for Ma Pau. Furthermore, the cheque was made made out to Ma Pau Morvant Sports Club and not the Pro League.

Skeene, a former “Strike Squad” player, thought the incorrect figure was an error and not fraud.

“If I had any problems with Ma Pau’s application, I would not have put forward their application to the (Pro League board),” Skeene told Wired868. “Or I would have at least hinted (about the problem) to the board.”

Photo: Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene (right) is in deep conversation with former Trinidad and Tobago standout Ron La Forest at the inaugural Wired868 Football Festival. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/ Wired868)
Photo: Pro League CEO Dexter Skeene (right) is in deep conversation with former Trinidad and Tobago standout Ron La Forest at the inaugural Wired868 Football Festival.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/ Wired868)

Harrison, despite his role with the Sport Ministry, was present at the Pro League’s board meeting and was stunned to hear that Ma Pau’s application was supported by the Ministry of Sport.

“I went to the Pro League meeting to present info on the delays in their subventions and so on,” Harrison told Wired868. “The Chairman said there was an application to enter the Pro League when they opened up the meeting and presented a cheque (from the Sport Ministry). I said I knew nothing about it at all and neither does the Minister.”

The Pro League clubs did not support Ma Pau’s bid and, ironically, there was grumbling by club representatives that Fenwick had used his influence with Sancho and Harrison to gain an unfair advantage.

In truth, Harrison was fuming and he sped straight back to the Ministry’s PS, Macintyre, for answers. The English football administrator claimed that he and Sancho implemented a system in which Harrison reviewed any cheques issued by the Sport Ministry for over $20,000.

“Once a cheque is issued, I would review the file to ensure all the processes are followed,” said Harrison. “This is something we put in place when we came into the Ministry because of the Life Sport thing to make sure we don’t issue money to the wrong people.”

Photo: Central FC goal scorer Jean-Luc Rochford (front) and his teammates celebrate with the 2015 Caribbean Club Championship trophy. Looking on is then Central FC operations director Kevin Harrison (top left). (Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Central FC goal scorer Jean-Luc Rochford (front) and his teammates celebrate with the 2015 Caribbean Club Championship trophy.
Looking on is then Central FC operations director Kevin Harrison (top left).
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)

Was Fenwick the “wrong people?”

Harrison questioned Macintyre about the Ma Pau cheque and asked her to withdraw it.

“When I went back to the Ministry, I saw the PS and asked if she issued a cheque for $450,000 to Ma Pau and she said yes,” said Harrison. “And I said it was declined and you can get it back. When we then looked at the file, we realised there were a number of discrepancies… So the PS decided to take it to the police.”

One of the suggestions, raised in a subsequent Trinidad Guardian article, was that Fenwick sent photographs that fraudulently misrepresented the state of the Morvant ground by showing a spanking track around it.

The bemused Englishman countered that he had merely shown the ground in its current condition and then used photographs of a foreign track to show what it would like after work was completed.

Macintyre never questioned Fenwick, though. She ordered the coach to return the cheque, which he did, and, although the PS herself signed off on the application, the police began interviewing Sport Ministry officials on the matter.

However, the Pro League never formally rejected Ma Pau’s proposal and Skeene contradicted Harrison’s report to the PS.

“I don’t know where (Harrison) is getting this idea about the finality of the thing,” said Skeene. “The Pro League always continues to assist teams and we continue to try to help Ma Pau to get into the league… It is a continuing process.”

Photo: Central FC official and Advisor to the Sport Minister Kevin Harrison (right) presents a $12,000 cheque to Dion Sosa, the local manager for then ailing player Akeem Adams. Adams died on 30 December 2013 after failing to recover from a heart attack. (Courtesy Allan V. Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Central FC official and Advisor to the Sport Minister Kevin Harrison (right) presents a $12,000 cheque to Dion Sosa, the local manager for then ailing player Akeem Adams.
Adams died on 30 December 2013 after failing to recover from a heart attack.
(Courtesy Allan V. Crane/Wired868)

Had Harrison overstepped his boundaries by instructing the PS to withdraw the cheque for Ma Pau?

And had Macintyre erred by taking instructions from Harrison rather than the Pro League Chairman or CEO?

Wired868 failed to reach Macintyre for comment. Harrison denied he was working against Ma Pau’s bid.

“We said we can’t find a way and he went around (Sancho and I) and submitted an application and he got turned down by the Pro League,” said Harrison. “I certainly had no say in how they voted because I wasn’t a voting member. It had nothing to do with me.”

Was there any ill-feeling between Sancho, Harrison and Fenwick?

“I don’t know (but) I see there is a post on Facebook calling me a liar,” said Harrison, in reference to a comment made by Fenwick’s wife and local attorney, Reyna Kowlessar. “I was told by two independent sources that Terry said he got money from the Ministry of Sport without me or Brent knowing about it. And he was laughing…”

Caledonia AIA coach Jamaal Shabazz said he abstained from the vote when Ma Pau’s application was raised before the Pro League board. Since then, he met with Fenwick and has been rallying other clubs to support Ma Pau.

Photo: Caledonia head coach Jamaal Shabazz (left) and assistant coach Rajesh Latchoo enjoy a good day at the office. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/ Wired868)
Photo: Caledonia head coach Jamaal Shabazz (left) and assistant coach Rajesh Latchoo enjoy a good day at the office.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/ Wired868)

“I had heard rumours that the regional corporation had given the ground in our Morvant community to Ma Pau and I abstained at that point to get more clarity,” Shabazz told Wired868. “Now that I have information to the contrary, I feel it is necessary for Caledonia to support Ma Pau’s entry into the League…

“The Ma Pau franchise would be able to employ at least 35 of our grassroots people and, while politicians continue to promise, the young people have to (be able to) eat.”

Shabazz suggested that Ma Pau might win a second vote from Pro League clubs but claimed the team’s bid was being undermined by “senior officials at the Sport Ministry.”

“Each club owner has their say and their vote and, because we own the league, we can change our minds as we have done and amend rules according to the situations that we face,” said Shabazz. “I’m hearing that there are senior officials in the Ministry who are trying to put stumbling blocks. I have spoken to one or two clubs who said that senior officials have insinuated that Terry Fenwick did not use proper information to secure the Ministry’s help…

Photo: Former Central FC coach Terry Fenwick gestures during his team's final Pro League contest. North East Stars coach Angus Eve is in the foreground. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Former Central FC coach Terry Fenwick gestures during his team’s final Pro League contest.
North East Stars coach Angus Eve is in the foreground.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)

“I can understand if you stop a man from doing bad. So if Fenwick trying to do something bad, I can understand (that) they stop it. But he is trying to do something good, so I can’t see why they want to stop him.

“And I am saying this as no friend of Terry Fenwick and it angers me when people think for some reason I shouldn’t stand up for him.

“I am not standing up for him, I am standing up for fair play in football. This is our livelihood and we have to make this industry work.”

Shabazz suggested that the Pro League needs Fenwick at least as much as he needs the Pro League.

“I see Terry Fenwick as a warrior like us and he brings a certain amount of competitiveness and finesse as a coach in the league,” said Shabazz. “He is second only to Stuart Charles (Fevrier) in terms of winning titles in the Pro League and for that he has my respect… Caledonia would vote in favour of Ma Pau, despite the fact that on the field I am a fierce competitor against Terry Fenwick.

Photo: Central FC coach Terry Fenwick (right) tries to get a reaction from his squad in the 2015 Caribbean Cup final. Looking on is W Connection coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Central FC coach Terry Fenwick (right) tries to get a reaction from his squad in the 2015 Caribbean Cup final.
Looking on is W Connection coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)

“We may never be friends but I think he has a place in Trinidad and Tobago’s football. And, as a Muslim, I have a command from Allah to stand up for justice.

“Allah says: ‘Oh ye who believe, stand up firmly for justice, even if it is against yourself.’ Despite my combative vibes with Mr Fenwick, I think in fairness to the work he has done, he should be in the league.”

However, Skeene said the time-consuming furore within the Ministry of Sport over Ma Pau’s application has probably killed the team’s chances of playing in the Pro League this season.

The Pro League is due to kick off with a Digicel Charity Shield fixture on September 11 while the official competition is scheduled to begin on September 25.

“I think there was a remote possibility for Ma Pau to come into the league last month,” said Skeene. “It was very tight. Right now, it would probably be next season.”

The new TTFA constitution, which was approved by its executive committee but must still make its way through the regional associations, calls for a promotion and relegation system between the Pro League and National Super League.

Photo: Malabar FC attacker Che Edwards (second from left) struggles with Edinburgh defender Aswad Alves (centre) while Shaheed John (right) slides in to win the ball during CNG National Super League  Championship Division action at the D'abadie Recreation Grounds.  Looking on is Edinburgh goalkeeper Joel Sansavior. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Malabar FC attacker Che Edwards (second from left) struggles with Edinburgh defender Aswad Alves (centre) while Shaheed John (right) slides in to win the ball during CNG National Super League Championship Division action at the D’abadie Recreation Grounds.
Looking on is Edinburgh goalkeeper Joel Sansavior.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)

When that occurs, clubs will have to earn their entrance into the top flight by slogging it out in the Super League, which now has two divisions.

It would mean that Ma Pau and other ambitious clubs must spend at least two years battling their way past over 30 community teams before they can even apply to the Pro League.

“The Pro League board still has to finalise the matter of promotion and relegation,” said Skeene. “We are looking to have a discussion with the TTFA. I would like it to (have promotion) but we have to have discussions… It will place a totally different dimension on things.”

It means that local football fans might have a long wait before they see Fenwick coaching in the top flight again.

Shabazz would miss the combative Englishman, although there may be just as many rivals who would say ‘good riddance.’ Fenwick, outspoken, combative and provocative, has always split opinions in the local game, even though his titles speak for themselves.

Photo: Central FC coach Terry Fenwick (left) and North East Stars coach Angus Eve glare at each other during their 2014 Digicel Pro Bowl quarterfinal clash. (Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)
Photo: Central FC coach Terry Fenwick (left) and North East Stars coach Angus Eve glare at each other during their 2014 Digicel Pro Bowl quarterfinal clash.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/Wired868)

Cox suggested that Morvant/Laventille would be the biggest losers, though.

“I am really disappointed with all the foolishness that is going on,” said Cox. “Anybody who wants to do something to uplift the grounds, I am very grateful for it… If someone is willing to pump money into sport, then shouldn’t (the Ministry of Sport) be happy?

“There must be some underlying confusion going on that we do not know about. I don’t think any right-thinking person will not want that to happen.”

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About Lasana Liburd

Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.

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285 comments

  1. Chabeth a lot of them come thru the school system then go on to College….and yeah dey whining a lil bit but they working hard

  2. Savitri Maharaj you really going and start a sports business very nice because now I don’t have to always hut up meh head to find the sponsors to honor the top goalscorer of our professional league and I know that if the good Lord takes me home you will make certain that it will be done every season and in return I am positively certain that you will get plenty support and will be rewarded thanking you in advance. Blessings

  3. Chabeth Haynes there is a womens proleague and no the women are not doing better than the men but thats a whole next conversation!1

  4. Hahaha cousin Savitri Maharaj u too much but i hear u!!

  5. Mind you eh, Savitri, it have no women’s pro league and the women’s teams reaching further internationally than the men. So again, how helpful is this pro league really in its current form?

  6. Good stuff uncle Earl…we need to just do quite a lot eh.

  7. I went to do some business for a lil bit and all this…anyway cousin Gordon read Nicholas’s comment above…this is what Im/we saying. I want the govt to start supporting my business too…and for all you know I going to start a sports business cause it looking lucrative.

  8. Some folks think that he is bypolar and I know that it have a cure for that illness even if we have to get him to the America when I was leaving the last time when I was there in our sweet country I met a worker in the airport and during the conversation she told me that she was from Maloney and I was sharing my concerns about him and the environment that he comes from and she said that I shouldn’t give up on him our youths just needs the right guidance and right folks behind them so as Nike says lets just do this my nephew.

  9. I hear u uncle!! Northeast stars manager checked me with that assignment to yes will have to follow up tho!!

  10. Gordon Pierre I saw this player some years ago that represent our sweet country on the youth team and he has developed into another Rusell Laterpy or even he might be much better but he really needs some guidance and help he really have the potential to be the next greatest player that will represent our sweet country and also make it professional abroad he hails from Maloney and his name is Marcus Gomez I am not giving up on him and I will be coming back home to be his mentor and big brother but I also need the help from you eh because I know that you is a real professional at what you do

  11. How does the Pro League improve if gov’t keeps giving money & the League itself [club owners] believe they are doing great & gov’t should do more? To me it’s the 15 year issue

  12. Lasana, how many teams were in the republic bank youth tournament that took place over the holidays?I need to get an understanding of how any kids playing football. And then how many kids in schools’ league. What size base we talking about here?

  13. And in order to also stage Youth World Cup men/ women tournaments in our sweet country I was told that there must be a professional league in place.

  14. We trying not to pelt yuh Savitri Maharaj! Lol. It is a very good convo we are having btw.

  15. Only Pro League players go on to represent Trinidad and Tobago on the international stage or to become millionaire like Kenwyne Jones… So it does play a very real role in the development of football talent.

  16. cousin Savitri Maharaj you gone to far there!! The proleague is a feeder to big leagues around the world motivate thousands of young ones to take football as a career path and keeps the dream alive!! Keron ball pest cummings roller coaster career is a very recent example of the proleagues value!!

  17. And yes although I will always say it is a bootleg professional league I agree with Gordon Pierre with respect to the football development and employment for our young folks especially in the depressed areas but again the league needs to be in the communities to accumulate more funds and crowd support and yes the government should also assist with the funding of the league because this is another deterrent against the crime situation in our sweet country.

  18. But 15 years is still a long time to be propping some one up. It can be compared to CEPEP (now doh pelt me)

  19. Well, we have all been saying the same thing then Savitri Maharaj. My concern is I felt Chabeth was hinting that the Gov’t should drop them now and say 15 years is enough time…
    And we still seem to disagree on what form the Govt help should take. But i’d be happy if we agree that the Gov’t should help.

  20. That exactly is what Chabeth was alluding to Gordon, not carrying them for eternity.

  21. The proleague is necessary not only for the direct empolyment of ppl but the national football development !! To be honest i do not think enough has been done to make it a profitable business but its value in the national set up is undoubtable especially in depressed areas

  22. The professional league as I will always call it is a bootleg league and until the standards of the league are raised our football will remain on the level that it is and the prove to my point is when our top teams in the league competes against the teams in the real professional leagues abroad and always get beat bad, bad, bad. Them really good yes

  23. Yeah, and you find if Ma Pau was a pro league club, they should get a million dollars from the government. Every year. In perpetuity. ?????

  24. Chabeth Haynes and Savitri Maharaj, the Pro League only yesterday made its decision on Ma Pau’s application. But the Ma Pau release suggested that the club was rejected conclusively over a week ago.
    The Ma Pau release was really badly misinformed and that is saying plenty for how this thing is such a sorry mess.

  25. The Pro League is really a board made up of current Club owners. In all regards & respects, I don’t see them as relentless sport oriented businessmen willing to work together to further the League or even allow respective clubs/communities part ownership.

  26. Oh, I hope he’s on my side then. Ha!
    And yes, Lasana Liburd, I am talking about making adjustments to reduce the direct financial burden on the state.
    Seriously, over a million dollars every year to a private company, in perpetuity, from a state with a developing economy to a sport that is the highest earning in its sector. You really don’t find that problematic?

  27. Yuh really think I would? Knowing how they’ll probably pass my business plan on to their friends and famalee…been there already eh…

  28. Savitri Maharaj, I haven’t even tried to apply for funding either. But you would probably have a better chance than me.
    There are lots of grants available in different fields to be honest.

  29. Lol. Snell is a former official at a MLS club Chabeth Haynes. Since we mentioned their league, he might be able to help. 😉
    And who said the Pro League didn’t make adjustments? Or has shown no sign of progress?
    You are assuming that based only on fact that they still receive subventions. But there are other ways to mention progress.

  30. I am not saying I see no benefit Lasana. I see benefit. But how many business receive state funding for 15 years?! Without making any significant adjustments to try to become financially viable?
    And please don’t invite anybody else into the discussion. You and Jamaal Shabazz are more than enough for me to handle! If ppl come, then they come, but we don’t need to issue invitations! haha!

  31. Lasana, my small business could employ young nationals, willing to work and learn something new to take them forward, they can also play their football once we get our work done. Where do I go for the funding now?

  32. Idk about the story, Lasana Liburd. Didn’t Jamaal say in the story that he was trying to get people on board? So Idk. But the TTPS is investigating so we might have some answers before the next WC.

  33. Mark Snell, what do you think about this Pro League issue with regards to State funding?

  34. If a business is helped to the point that it starts to thrive in T&T. One that is employing young nationals, you don’t see the benefit to the State and the country and taxpayers Chabeth Haynes?

  35. Good point Savitri Maharaj.
    Chabeth Haynes check this:
    “The grant funding was indeed paid by the Ministry to facilitate the payment of the registration fee. However, it was subsequently communicated to us by the Pro League that Ma Pau’s application was rejected by a vote of 3 against 1 for and 1 abstention. In the circumstances Ma Pau immediately issued a cheque in the identical amount to return the funds to the Ministry.”

    That is a direct quote from Ma Pau that contradicts everything said by the Sport Ministry, the Pro League and even the initial Guardian story.
    So whoever wrote that Ma Pau release seems not to even know what they are talking about. Either that or everyone else is lying including multiple sources from different bodies.

  36. What I am saying Lasana Liburd is that private enterprise is an investment where you reap rewards over the long term. It is not a situation where you go to the government because the going is rough. I am not saying that you should expect to or that anybody profits over night. But that is not the nature of private enterprise. Let’s say these teams eventually do start turning profits, is there any provision to even repay the state? So our tax dollars are being used to bolster private enterprise which might then turn a profit and not repay us? That is madness.
    But I though twe agreed to disagree since last night. 😛

  37. The alleged forged signature is new. Who forged it? There is no suggestion as to who might have done that.
    And yet neither the PS nor the Pro League saw any indication of fraud until the Sport Minister and his Advisor found out about the deal.
    Is that suspicious?
    Of course I would like to hear more about that forged signature. I don’t believe anything that isn’t verified. And I’ve verified everything I wrote with several sources.

  38. I was also under the impression that the cheques was never cashed, but here Ma Pau is saying they wrote a cheque to the MoS?

  39. I don’t know that the MLS received Gov’t money. So you all are saying the fact that I’ve showed a league that needed over two decades to turn a profit means nothing if it wasn’t State money being used?
    I’m giving you an example of how some industries might need patience and you can measure progress in other ways.
    Look at YouTube Chabeth Haynes. The company made loads of progress without making a cent. It isn’t just about measuring your business in dollars and cents.
    But it looks like we are getting to where we must agree to disagree.

  40. I don’t remember the bit about the $150,000 and the allegedly forged signature coming out before. But nobody said it contradicted your story. We all trust your journalistic integrity. We wouldn’t be here otherwise 🙂

  41. Lasana Liburd, is there any attempt by the Pro League and its clubs to wean themselves off of state support?
    I am not saying that at this very moment we just say cut all funding, but steps have to be taken and adjustments have to be made for the pro league and its teams to become self-sufficient. A country with a developing economy has no business giving money to private companies year in year out.

  42. Chabeth Haynes, the Ma Pau release was virtually responding to the Guardian story. So no surprise that it matched.
    But there are loads of holes in the story in my opinion. And it doesn’t contradict a single line of my article.

  43. Can I apply to the gov’t for funding too? I have a small business, not making massive profits (sometimes none at all), but as the situation stands, I might have to turn to crime too

  44. Was the MLS subsidised by the US government Lasana?

  45. Lasana Liburd, are you telling me that if wired868 is failing for 15 years, you are not going to make any changes?
    The US government funded the MLS?

  46. Check other leagues worldwide and see how long it took them Chabeth Haynes. The MLS started in 1993. It didn’t start making money until within the last five years or so.
    I have given you several examples in international sport.

  47. Savitri Maharaj, the part about the $150,000 is concerning, I think the guardian’s report was an accurate representation of the media release.

  48. I don’t think that the classification of ‘industry’ is appropriate Lasana.

  49. 15 years is not a new business, Lasana. 15 years?!

  50. The pro league needs to find a better marketing strategy so they can generate revenue. Tell them to try starting the league during the vacation period to see if more ppl come. For the first month all the games could be free to try to get people emotionally invested in a team. Second month charge a nominal feel and see if people still come. But they need to do something, anything differently. You cannot engage in same failing strategies for 15 years and just expect government handouts. They are private enterprises.

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